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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2020 IN BRIEF COEXIST Seaside woman dies after being hit by vehicle on Highway 101 A Seaside woman died Thursday night after being struck by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 101 near Gearhart. Police say the driver of a Chevrolet coupe was traveling northbound when he saw a pedestrian cross into his path and was unable to avoid her. Emergency crews arrived at about 9:30 p.m. and Rachel Faith McCune, 35, was pronounced dead at the scene. The highway was closed to one lane for about three hours after the crash. Coast Guard rescues two teens near Fort Stevens Two teenage girls were rescued Wednesday near Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond after getting caught in a rising tide. Emergency crews were called at around 5 p.m. to a report that a 14 year old and an 18 year old were stranded on rocks in a lagoon. They were reportedly unable to paddle their inner- tubes back to their starting point and the rising tide prevented them from walking back to the park. Crews were unable to reach the rocky area by boat due to the shallow water. A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew ultimately hoisted the teenagers out of the water. No injuries were reported. The Coast Guard said the rescue was a reminder to always check the weather, including tide tables, and wear a life jacket. — The Astorian Pacifi c County adopts vacation rental regulations SOUTH BEND, Wash. — The Pacifi c County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to adopt new regulations for short-term vacation rentals, while also voting to lift most elements of a morato- rium in place since February on new vacation rental applications. The board unanimously voted to adopt amend- ments that cover an array of issues, the most notable of which aims to prevent clusters of vacation rentals in residentially zoned neighborhoods. The board also unanimously voted to lift the mora- torium on new vacation rental applications in R-2 and R-R zoning districts, while keeping intact the mora- torium on R-1 zones for the time being. The votes were held following a virtual public hearing that lasted about an hour, which included comments from more than a dozen people on all sides of the issue. The biggest issue for those opposed to the addi- tional regulations is the density rule, which requires new short-term rentals to have a radius of at least 300 feet — from all property lines — from any other short-term rental property in R-2 and R-R zoning districts. They also asked the county to conduct a study on how the new regulations would impact the county’s economy. — Chinook Observer DEATHS July 28, 2020 In SPATH, Brief Antone Ernest, 58, of Warrenton, died in Warrenton. Ocean View Deaths Funeral & Cremation Ser- vice of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. July 27, 2020 SMITH, Kevin Kelly, 65, of Astoria, died in Seaside. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Criminal trespass • Roy Hall, 44, was arrested Wednesday at Ninth and Astor streets in Astoria for criminal trespass in the second degree. On the Record PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. TUESDAY Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, noon, work session, (electronic meeting). Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway. Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic meeting). Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., 450 10th St., (electronic meeting). Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. 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Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 MAIL (IN COUNTY) EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer A jeep barrels through the surf near Seaview last weekend. Sewage spill disclosed in Cannon Beach Overfl ow estimated at 26,000 gallons By NICOLE BALES The Astorian CANNON BEACH — Dump trucks carried 28 loads of sand off of Can- non Beach in late July after a sewage overfl ow. The city said it was noti- fi ed of a wastewater pump station failure on the morn- ing of July 24 that led to more than 26,000 gallons of sewage spilling onto the beach at the end of Nelchena Street. While the city worked to correct the problem, it was unclear there was a sewage overfl ow until the afternoon. A report by Karen La Bonte, the city’s public works director, said she received a phone call from a resident at around 4 p.m. informing her that he noticed water coming from the southernmost out- fall during his walk on the beach that morning. When public works staff went back out to inspect the area, they found specks of toilet paper . The city notifi ed the state Department of Environmen- tal Quality and Oregon State Parks . Barricades and caution tape were placed around the area, along with sand- Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian A sewage spill was discovered in Cannon Beach on July 24. wich boards with warning signs. Signs on the beach will remain for several more weeks. The city’s excavation con- tractor brought four dump trucks and removed 28 loads of sand from the beach. The sand was taken to an area east of U.S. Highway 101 . The city said the spill did not reach the ocean and that the clean up was completed before high tide. Notifi cations regard- ing the incident were sent the evening of July 24 to the City Council, city attor- ney, nearby hotels , the Ecola Creek Watershed Council and Surfrider Foundation and committees that partner with the city on environmen- tal projects. La Bonte’s report said the city’s electrical contrac- tor concluded that the valves on two of the wastewater pump stations were adjusted incorrectly. The incorrect valves caused the pressure to increase, which damaged the pump stations. Other mal- functions were also exposed by the incident. “We will be reviewing our training procedures for new employees starting to do routine maintenance in our pump stations, in addi- tion to adding signage that make certain procedures more clear,” La Bonte said in the report. Public works will also re examine routine mainte- nance intervals. In her report, La Bonte said another contributing factor was that the waste- water department has been short-staffed for some time. “Team members from other departments and agen- cies have stepped up to assist the wastewater team when- ever possible,” she said. “This has resulted in a level of inconsistencies in who was performing various operations.” She said there also needs to be improvements to the utility systems, but funding will require adjustments to utility rates. The incident is expected to be discussed Tuesday at a City Council meeting. County, Warrenton partner to dissolve water district By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Clatsop County and War- renton will work together on how to dissolve the Ski- panon Water Control District and disperse two remaining fl ood control structures . The water district, whose board decided last year to request dissolution from the county, oversees a fl ood control structure at Cullaby Lake that would go to the county. The district’s Eighth Street Dam in Warrenton would go to the city. County Manager Don Bohn organized a joint meeting between the two governments Friday to fi nd a collaborative way to dis- solve the district and dis- pense assets. Warrenton city commis- sioners were wary of taking on the Eighth Street Dam, which Mayor Henry Balen- sifer equated to “a piece of ground right now in terms of its operational use and maintenance.” The water district and the city once had a partner- ship with Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce to replace the aging dam with a single-lane, $1.2 million bridge funded by the Bonne- ville Power Administration as part of a fi sh habitat reha- bilitation project. But some at the city and in the community ques- tioned the water district’s argument that the dam was no longer useful for fl ood control. The city, which at one point declared an emer- gency over the issue, also spent more than $110,000 on an attorney in a failed bid to claim ownership of the dam. Warrenton is still await- ing the fi nal results of a hydrological study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers related to the dam’s effectiveness. The city would like those results before taking on the dam, Balensifer said. “I would hate to just take ownership of something that frankly we don’t have a clear picture of,” he said. “It just feels like it’s being dumped, so to speak.” Collin Stelzig, the city’s public works director, said it appears from the study so far that the dam is a useful water control structure during peri- ods of low to exceptionally high tides, but less so during 100-year fl ood events. The water district, expecting the dam would be removed as a hazard, kept the tide gates up since 2012 and took them off in 2015. The dam has become more important with pro- posed development nearby , such as Jason Palmberg’s Chinook Village RV Park. The family of Mark Kujala, a county commissioner and former Warrenton mayor , also owns signifi cant amounts of land nearby and has contemplated residential development. Balensifer, Commis- sioner Mark Baldwin and Commissioner Pam Ack- ley agreed that having the county organize an elec- tion of affected voters on whether to dissolve the water district would be the best way forward. “I don’t think it would make November, so it would happen sometime next year,” Bohn said of an elec- tion. “And then that would, I guess, give us a little time to fi gure out some of the other details.” Election season underway in South County By R.J. MARX The Astorian SEASIDE — Elec- tion season is underway in South County, with three open seats on the Seaside City Council and two in Gearhart. Gearhart Mayor Matt Brown’s term will also come up for reelection in November. Aug. 25 is the deadline for candidates to declare they are running . Candidates submit their signature sheets to the city and they return them to the board of elections to verify. “Once they are veri- fi ed we notify the city and they will then submit an offi - cial candidate list to us by Sept. 3,” County Clerk Tra- cie Krevanko said. No candidates have yet to fi le. In Seaside, the City Council terms of Randy Frank, Seth Morrisey and Tom Horning will expire. Frank, who serves as councilor-at-large for wards 1 and 2, joined the council in 2012 and was unopposed for reelection in 2016. Morrisey was appointed in 2015 to complete the term of Stubby Lyons. Tom Horning, a geol- ogist who has called for greater disaster prepara- tion, was elected in 2016. In Gearhart, Brown is up for reelection as mayor and the City Council seats of Dan Jesse and Reita Fack- erell are in play. Brown won election in 2016 and domi- nated the mayor’s race with a platform of a “sustain- able, residential Gearhart.” Fackerell was appointed in December 2018 after the departure of Sue Lorain. Jesse would be making his third City Council bid in Gearhart, defeating his opponent in 2012 and run- ning unopposed in 2016. He served on the Planning Commission before elec- tion to City Council.
